Thread regarding General Atomics layoffs

It has been a month and I hear nothing has improved. They should ask for volunteers to be laid off with a good package. Then, reduce the managers and supervision by half. Let the directors and executives hold the meetings and treat them the way the previous people were treated.

What GA did was an absolutely Tragedy some of the people That were let go where hard workers and did all that they were asked to. Those who were close to management and those who were part of the good o boy club all got to stay. I recall seeing those who GA retained take many smoke breaks and we’re overly mediocre workers who used their status to not do any work. Simply sitting on a charge number all day and taking up to 6+ smoke breaks! Management clearly let many of those know about the layoffs because nearly all of them took off that day. I had good yearly reviews worked hard on all the projects I was assigned to and my only crime is having a disability and not fitting in to the groups at work! This is cruel!

Unfortunately they kept kiss asses in avionics team in poway. Those knowledgeable in what it takes to get better are gone. It’s a high tech business not a political organization. Get rid of bureaucrats and excess managers directors who don’t do much it’s funny how folks above 40 were gone. Hummm. Let’s see how employment lawyers will jump on that tasty meal.

I came to GA 10 years ago from a major aerospace company. When I mentioned terms like “earned value” and asked to look at 1-2 year forecasts I was told “ we don’t do things like that at GA. Management would oftentimes hire without consulting with supervisors or team leads just to increase numbers of direct reports. Or hire buddies they served with on USMC or USN thar had absolutely no qualifications for position. I personally interviewed manager suggested candidates that I gave thumb down that were hired anyway.
Later on manager would “create” supervisor position and give buddy promotion
Director clueless as to what goes on in department, comes out of office to use restroom doesn’t make eye contact or so much as say hello.
One part of department would be hiring like crazy while other part would have people on indirect overhead with no work. Managers would rather hire new people instead of transferring between projects.
Oftentimes I would see the same 3-4 “buddies” make their way to smoking area 2-3 times an hour for 10-20 minutes at a time.
Whenever I brought up concerns regarding lack of hours to support my team I would get response from manager/supervisor “ GA has never laid off.”

General Atomics ASI is in trouble with many mismanaged projects that are now dead in the water this company simply does not understand the future. those in charge failed to envision a product that works in theaters other than the middle east or 3rd world countries and GA is bleeding both talent and money. As someone has said, January 2021 is going to be a sad time for those still with the company simple due to the fact that their platform is just not what our customer needs to fight a more capable enemy such as China and Russia. the first wave was just to mitigate a problem that this company dug itself into in the years leading to this layoff. Many people were hired for the MQ-25 program, those in the High Desert were certain that GA would win the contract and it was the main and only reason why they hired so many people. it was in 2019 that those in Poway, began to clamp down on the high deserts', lust to hire more and more people. Those currently employed will recall it was during that year that the company stopped hiring. Those monthly briefs that at the end of the month we all grew accustomed to, simply had no new faces to introduce. This this was the bloodletting had begun, I am sorry that so many talented people got let go. I read the yearly reviews of most of them and it was simply hard to choose so we gave the job to those in the management of the various departments because we figured it was their fault for going crazy over the hiring. I am associated with the company in more ways than I wish to say and frankly my advice is... GET OUT while you still can. this first wave of layoffs was designed to not only get rid of people but to scare others into quitting. This is why… there was only a 6% reduction of force. Come January 2021 the second and more shocking wave of layoffs will happen, and it will be far more than 6%. Those who were let go in the first wave will get the jobs from some of the local defense contract companies and when its your time you may have loss the opportunity to get into a great company that is far better managed and will have a say in the next Gen drone of the future. The Skyborg program envisioned by the air force will be far too expensive and GA just got rid of some of their brightest engineers because the dirt bags in management feared them.

ADB

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• Hey, all! I'm a former employee of GA-ASI. And now work at L3Harris on Balboa Avenue in San Diego. I'm sorry to hear you got laid off. If you're looking for a new job, L3Harris is looking for trainers that are IPC certified, quality engineers, and material planners for manufacturing work. I hope that helps! If anyone is interested, feel free to send me an email at megan.sweeney@l3harris.com.

I got hired in July fresh out of college, in the days leading up to this mass layoff i was scared because i was new and many of my fellow engineers were scared as well. the day before the layoff i noticed most of management was in a meeting with an exception of a few supervisors and so that eventful day happened boxes and tissue paper i noticed was a little more present. i wasn't let go but some really great engineers lost their job a few days ago. two of theses dude were just stars and im sure they will have no problem getting a job somewhere else. what a dumb company i work for.

management told us that HR was the one who decided who was going but i was just informed that it was indeed both lower and upper management who made the decision who got let go. this was not a measure of how good or bad someone was, but who was part of the good o boy club in the A&P department. SAD because a lot of good workers were let go someone mention this was a deduction of force based on performance this is blatantly wrong. I still have a job for the time being and i feel guilty that i was allowed to stay only after being with the company for 2 years since march. many of the people who were let go had many years with the company and i was trained by a few of them. there were a few guys that i felt deserved to be let go but the vast majority of the were good employees, harder workers that just came to work every day and did what was asked of them. This is a tragedy that a group of kiss asses can control a department. wheres the integrity that our bosses always talk about????

I was let go on Wednesday. This place became a joke to work for. I showed this company how to save a million bucks a year by changing 3 tools and they said no. Then you wonder why they are going down the toilet. My supervisor walked behind me told me that my manager wanted to see me in the conference room. He couldn’t even look me in the eye when HR asked me to sign a paper and turn in my badge. It took less than five minutes and four of us were out of there. They even had extra management on hand to escort us out. I was not even allowed to get my cell phone from my work station. I have worked in this industry for almost 40 years and never been treated as bad as I have been treated here. I hope they go under period! P.S. , maybe the director will finally learn how to say
“ Yellow card “.

The best analyst in my department was let go. The guy who falls asleep at his desk and takes 2 hours lunch breaks stays. The logic off the layoffs don’t make sense... don’t understand who they kept and who they let go. My boss was probably worried our best analyst was going to take her job. Who knows? I feel bad for everyone who lost their job and wish everyone the best. I may have a job today but do realize tmr isn’t promised

I deployed for general atomics for 8 years and was told that someone was going to contact me about sending my gear to the company. i contacted HR and was told that i was responsible for returning the gear at some far off base. they gave me a number to call and hung up. i cannot believe how they are treat people a multi billion dollar company who just laid off many people cant provide those who deploy a means of getting stuff back to them. extremely sad.

I resigned two weeks ago. Last day was 8/14. This after only 2 1/2 years. Never have I been associated with such a dysfunctional, wacked company as this. People came in go through the motions ,day is over leave. Millennial supervisor who has no people, real work world skills whatsoever. People watching movies on their phones but still yet get praise for being such a productive worker ?
One who not only complains on an hourly basis. Makes people feel like they are a nuisance for asking him to do his job! That people are so uncomfortable dealing with him they purposely go out of their way to another building to get what they need done is not once addressed?
For a billion dollar company to not have the necessary tools to function? Sharing one forklift? Doing whatever you can to help the company succeed but being written up because in their narrow minded ways you didn’t follow the script?
WTH was the script ? Watch movies, complain constantly, avoid ownership? I look like a damn prophet now leaving when I did. An HR department that I have never in my 29 years of working was so anti employee and pro company so don’t even think of disputing or explaining your side of any conflict/ situation.
So sorry for all those let go in the manner they were. Deserved so much more! All those posts Thank You Production Workers For All You Do. What a load of BS !!! Covid-19 be damned show up regardless of your own family but make the billionaires richer. But hey at least you got a free bag lunch 😂😂

I've been an employee for 3.5 years. I first started out in sabre springs. My team was wonder being the only young female in all male department. Those guys taught me alot. 2 years ago I left sabre springs and went to an Adelanto facility. And let me tell you the difference was night and day. More issues than you could ever imagine. Along side not working per mps instruction PER MANAGMENT ORDER to make numbers look good. On top of that s-xual harrasment that was NEVER RESOLVED by HR. Not to mention the fact that a manager put hands on her supervisor, choking to be exact and she was brought back to work. Another employee commiting time card fraud and brandishing weapons in the work place again not resolved. However all these individuals were able to keep their jobs. From what I can tell yes some of the employees were seeing their way out on their own but what about those of us who were loyal employees? The ones who worked as hard as they could to make management numbers look more than efficient? What about those of us who worked on projects other employees refused? Basically shown out of the door with a swift kick in the butt. Sign here, date here, give me your badge... Nothing more. When asked what lead to this the oh so lovely HR rep said everything you need to know is in your packet. Any other questions?
I understand that it's a business and they need to do what's best for the company. However the way it was went about was very very wrong. Can't help but be disappointed in GA as a whole. I thank all those whom I worked with in Poway. As far as highdessert facilities I personally thing management and HR needs to be gutted and replaced with real management personally, individuals that know how to seperate personal feelings and business feelings.

GA has more posts on this board - I've listed them below - you can see how many views and replies they have.

Also, you can see all threads by going to thelayoff.com/general-atomics or &general-atomics /general-atomics

Who's being affected with the current layoff?
2 days ago by Anonymous | 2474 views | 11 reactions (+6/-5) | 8 replies (last 23 hours ago)
Post ID: @OP+16DYSgmU

Just heard 600 layoffs
2 days ago by sdssssss | 3320 views | 12 reactions (+6/-6) | 26 replies (last 4 hours ago)
Post ID: @OP+16DOQq8k

GA let some sound team members go on Wednesday
5 hours ago by Anonymous | 117 views | 3 reactions (+3/-0) | no replies yet
Post ID: @OP+16F7T0MP

They are required to pay out all unused CAL due to layoffs not a company closure. If they say otherwise, a lawsuit is forthcoming.

I am a ten year employee of GA. We've had it good for a long time, which has led to a general feeling company wide that it will always be this way because we are the greatest. Arrogance at this company abounds. I have seen A lot of waste and mismanagement over the years. People are promoted based on popularity not their skills. GA has struggled with outdated technology and tools, and has tried to catch up, but the old boys club culture doesn't really allow it it because it hates change. Sadly, this has been a long time coming.

They will pay for the unused CAL, I asked HR.

I think it’s pretty standard to get paid out for any unused vacation at your pay rate.

I can’t find anything in the packet I received about my 400+ hours of CAL. Called the number to call if I had any questions and they didn’t know anything about Unused CAL.

Anyone have information about what they are doing to pay us our unused CAL balance?

Got Covid at GA. Brought the sickness home to my family. My wife got very sick and is still suffering. My breathing is still bad.... and for being a dumb loyal employee and almost dying... GA thanks me with a pink slip. This company will give you a life threatening disease, make your family sick and throw you away! This is GA!

I have been working for DoD contractors for over 35 years now and unfortunately this is pretty much how DoD contractors roll. Hire lots of people and then dump them (read lay them off) when contracts end or get cancelled. I have been RIF’d (laid-off) many times before - and it is never easy. GA - or so they say - has never had a lay-off before, but GA-ASI has always wanted to be on par with the “world class” DoD contractors. Congratulations GA-ASI, since you had this lay-off, you are now on par with them!
Non-laid off employees should read the writing on the wall and get their resumes out there - because you can bet your bottom dollar that GA is NOT through with the layoffs!
For all those laid-off that are older than say 40, check out www.eeoc.gov because age discrimination is illegal and companies can be sued for terminating workers above 40 years old if certain requirements are not met.
Be well all.

Baby on the way in 3 weeks and just bought a house. I was hardest working team member in our group FOR A FACT!! 8 years of hard work a dedication. Everything ended over a short phone call. They didnt ask for people near retirement to take leave, no pay cuts, no warning to seek employment else where, they still continued with paid interns, did they ask for loans from the gov thru cares act??? Management laughing their a– off because they are safe, my coworker told me our manager entered a meeting laughing after the layoff calls.

GA executives are saying to its employees who got recently laid off: "GA doesn't owe you anything"

7. A will NEVER be the same they let go of some really great employees very loyal and hard workers it was sad to see and very unfortunate.

My mother has been there over 10 years and was let laid off yesterday. She gave her everything to her work with pride and loved by everyone there. I feel for everybody who is in the same boat. It's not right that this has happened to you all.

apparently, the signs of this layoff was more present at one of the high desert location then it was at Elmo. As others were saying the rumors where running around GA and management in other departments were actually the source of the rumors. This was not the case for my department there was no indication of this coming except for a co-workers who gave accurate account of the amount of people being laid off, i heard this back in June. i first got wind of a this coming when i read the monthly brief and noticed that the last slide mention a second brief was to be given on the 28th of August. this was rather odd because they only give out briefs once a month and not twice. the second and more telling indication was them calling back all those deployed stateside. on August 26, Just Prior to me being laid off i was talking to my co-workers and we were trying to figure out how they were going about choosing. initially, it appeared it was performance based because we noticed that a lot of the under-performer were being let go along with some really great employees two of which that been with the company for over 17 years and were the backbone of our department. it was about that time i realized i was on the chopping board and i noticed a few supervisors looking at me. This was my first layoff, in my entire working career and to be honest i didn't know what to expect and personally didn't think that i would be the one chosen because i had a few years under my belt and i had an untarnished record along with the person who got let go with me. the meeting was cold and the director/HR rep was simply reading from their scrip and it lasted no longer than 15 minutes. i have to say the hardest part was saying goodbye to my fellow coworkers and supervisors because they looked completely unhappy but who could be in times like this. if i must be bother by something and it must be 'let known' they choose to retain some bad apples! in my department those who didn't get let go "not all"... had some incidences and have been written up for breaking things and not following the rules. I just don't understand it all and i guess i never will. though i already have GA well behind in my rear view mirror, thankfully i am driven, truly love working in aviation and have far more "INTEGRITY" than those in the company that made the decision to lay me of and so many others offf!!! >INTEGRITY

I heard 30 from Spanish Fork, Utah too

12 individuals let go in my group. Now we have a senior manager and 2 supervisors “in charge” of 8 remaining people. No wonder Customers are looking at us as expensive and too cumbersome.

GA let some sound team members go yesterday, even though some likely had their time growing near. Very callous exit as many supervisors, managers, and those even higher did not want to, nor did they, thank those that they let go that worked there for over 10 years. Like I always say, this is why you only give your company one week or less notice, as you see what they will do to you. When HR and some of the no-load management gets caught up and cannot find a job, or when they interview with those in charge that they let go, then they "might" get it. However, I doubt it

This is what overhiring, outdated equipment, under-educated people in charge will do. Note that they are considered in charge, as a leader would be forward, not backward thinking, and know when to motivate a smaller workforce. Way to go, another Predator program getting shutdown by the Air Force and no idea what to do next. . .Learn how to execute and plan better. . .

Sadly none of the family members got laid off. The most worthless group of all!

Can I volunteer for the lay-off? Working in the tech department is like going back to 1970. So many things are outdated and no one knows the current standards. It’s crazy how this company is even in business

I was layoff yesterday. It was a shock, but I heard rumors for over two months. I tought i would retire next year. When I turn 66 with GA. BUT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

I was let go as well after 10+ years and was a total shock since my dept only 2 of us were let go while all the unnecessary mgrs were allowed to stay. It seems a lot of the older generation who have been there for years and have so much experience were let go and left the young ones who could careless about the job, stay. They couldn't have picked the worse time to do this- right in the middle of pandemic with no jobs and so many already out of work. Poor mgnt and hiring way too many mgrs not needed was the issue instead of people who actually could do the work. And they pick during a pandemic with jobs hard to find. They could have waited this out or laid off in a better time as the company is not losing money. They have all kinds of work and we were swamped which makes this even harder to swallow. GA will go down with a bad rap after this. No one will want to work there. We have lost many contracts in the years I have been there and we never laid off. This is just trying to get rid of the older generation so they can hire cheap help!!

After 15 yr with GA-ASI was laid off yesterday, glad I was on scheduled cal they called me at home and let me know if I was at work heard they gave the walk of shame to many and escorted them out with belongings. Sad days but felt it coming with several lost contracts and Covid didn't help. Was a good Company hope they get it together again and can survive without more layoffs.

Sad day at GA in the high desert. They lost a lot of great people!! Bad time to be laid off.

i was laid off from ELMO, cold hearted exit like cattle. sign here, give me your badge, bye.

After 10 yrs with the company and countless hours given. With a major push to get a project done in the last 6 weeks and encouraging 12+ hrs a day to get it done. It is very disheartening to know they were planning this for months and prepping by pushing employees to get some projects completed. I have been faithful to this company and to be treated like this is horrible!

I will continue to be paid for 60 days at current rate. Waiting for my Fed Ex package to get more information. There was no compassion in the delivery of the over phone lay-off. I have confirmed with one other person the 60 days of pay.

What kind of severance package did employees got ? I know of someone that would have liked to be on the list because of too much stress and little pay at work.
Can someone volunteer to be put on the list?

I left almost 8 weeks ago. I won't say I knew anything about an upcoming layoff. I just got tired of the place and how they operated. It's a 'good ole boys club' gone wild. And it never seemed like GA was doing anything really innovative. NG has been incorporating stealth into their UAVs while GA has been content to provide nothing but a basic platform.

I read the Defense New article and it's pretty easy to see why the Air Force is going away from the Predator. A slow moving, relatively low flying aircraft that is easily seen on radar is a fairly easy target. You can't take those into a stressful situation and expect them to return. They worked fine in Kosovo because no one had ever seen them before. But 25 years have passed since then and GA hasn't really done anything to dramatically improve their product. I feel bad for the people that were impacted. But GA is getting what it deserves. And if they don't make serious changes this will only be the beginning.